Reimagining the Denver Square

“Give me an old house full of memories and I will give you hundred novels!”
― Mehmet Murat Ildan

This 1908 home is situated adjacent to City Park, Denver’s largest park and one of the city’s oldest urban spaces. When I first walked into this home, it had been partially gutted and I felt the age of the space immediately.

BEFORE: I wish I had more Before photos, but I was hired right after the demo phase of the project. The General Contractor, Mike Ode of West Elevations, sent me this one.

Architect John Hindlemann is a genius with old homes. I’ve been lucky enough to be a designer on a few of his projects and I’m always enamored with his respect for the home combined with respect for the modern family that want to live their 21st Century life in a home built maybe even before their grandparents were born. He expanded the first floor to create a generous kitchen, mudroom, powder room and family room. The second floor received a graceful, skylit staircase with a laundry room and new master bedroom suite.

The whole home is beautiful and I’m excited to share a few of the new spaces with you today. The memories of finishing this project are strong with me because we were finishing it up right when the lockdowns began for Covid. The last hand I shook was on the front porch of this home.

I love this bar! This is in the formal dining room to the right of the formal entry. (Photograph by Jordan Katz, Styled by Kristy Oatman for Laura Medicus Interiors)

We used white cabinetry as a simple backdrop to the gorgeous green tile (Called “Baroque” by Soho Studio – purchased locally at The Floor Club). The clients under-counter refrigerator is filled with craft beer and they enjoy making complicated cocktails. A bust of Shakespeare presides over the action.

This a new powder room added at the back of the home off of the mudroom and kitchen. *(Photograph by* Jordan Katz, Styled by Kristy Oatman for Laura Medicus Interiors)

The cool wallpaper in the powder room is called Analog Nights (CMYK) by Aimee Wilder. My music-loving client found this and we papered the entire, cute little room in it. The round mirror resembles a record and we put a floating, white oak, flat front vanity in this small room.

This kitchen is in the new part of the home. You can see the walk-in pantry’s barn door hardware near the wall clock. That hall leads to the formal dining room and bar. *(Photograph by* Jordan Katz, Styled by Kristy Oatman for Laura Medicus Interiors)

One thing I really love about this kitchen is the stove positioned directly in front of the window. In smaller spaces and older homes, sometimes there’s not a huge choice for the stove. In this case they could have put the stove on the island, but that would involve either an island hood (which visually take up a lot of room), or a slide-in stove with a down draft and there aren’t a lot of those to choose from. I love that the sink faces out and stove faces the window.

To give the stove even more emphasis, I put open shelves on either side and used a “fancier” backsplash tile here. We separated the chevron marble tile from the humble subway with a stone pencil liner. *(Photograph by* Jordan Katz, Styled by Kristy Oatman for Laura Medicus Interiors)

We kept the original floors in the home, refinished them and then added new Red Oak #2 to the new areas in the house. Red Oak gets put down a lot for being common, but it’s one of my personal favorites – I love seeing it in older homes.

This is the family dog, Bowie, sitting pretty on a beautiful rug from Denver’s Shaver Ramsey, my favorite local rug source. *(Photograph by* Jordan Katz, Styled by Kristy Oatman for Laura Medicus Interiors)

The custom cabinetry in the home was purchased from Sander and Sons, a family owned and operated business out of Littleton, Colorado. The kitchen appliances are from Specialty Appliance in Greenwood Village. Bowie, the family dog posed for us in front of almost every shot – but this is the one we used. No treats were required, he knows he’s a star.

A corner of the Master Bathroom. *(Photograph by* Jordan Katz, Styled by Kristy Oatman for Laura Medicus Interiors)

The floor is natural slate in a hexagon. The cabinets are white oak.

The shower in the Master Bathroom is tucked into an alcove. *(Photograph by* Jordan Katz, Styled by Kristy Oatman for Laura Medicus Interiors)

The picket tile in the shower picks up the geometry on the floor. We used a smaller slate hex on the shower floor. This cute fish rug is from Shaver Ramsey – they have quite a few in different colors and we all fell in love with it.

Finishing this home up during the lockdown is something good that will be associated with start of the pandemic for me. I remember driving through streets empty of cars to get here, worrying about getting close to people inside the home and meeting eyes with installers who, like me, felt the same worry about what was to come. This project felt good to complete during a time when it felt like everything was coming undone.